This time I really mean it; it's finished. :)

Many thank you's and plenty of extra credit points to everyone who has come back to read the epilogue; which is a very important part of the story, might I add. This tale just can't be complete without finding out what happens with our favorite villain and his sidekick, and of course, that sassy little bot we've grown rather attached to as the story has unfolded.

I hope you enjoy it!

When Minion arrived back at the Lair after his quick stint of chauffeur duty for Miss Ritchi, he immediately trucked his way to the control room, expecting Megamind to already be hard at work strategizing the wicked scheme he had slated for Monday. The sneaky villain had been very clear in his whispered insistence that this new plan be far more evil than their usual, run of the mill sort of schemes, so the faithful fish assumed his boss had made it his top priority and would already be hard at work dreaming up the most abominable contraption Metro City had ever seen.

When he hurried through the control room door however, he found it completely empty; nothing but darkness and shadows, and Megamind's empty chair facing the bank of monitors as they continued to play their heart-warming but cliché scenes of holiday cheer.

After a moment of sudden shock at finding their planning table devoid of evil blueprints or the floor lacking a certain blue super villain as he paced back and forth, deep in nefarious thought, he turned quickly to make his way through the Lair and track him down. Minion's scaly brow furrowed a bit as he walked along and thought about the utter strangeness of his friend's behavior that day. Now he was beginning to get a little worried; Megamind forgoing the opportunity to work through the night to come up with the most frightening plan he'd ever created? And especially after Miss Ritchi had challenged him like that? Something had to be wrong… this was not like his boss at all.

Maybe he's getting sick? thought Minion as he reached the kitchen and peeked around the frame of the door to find it empty. Or maybe he's just been working too hard… yeah, that might just be it. That would explain him sitting out his prime work hours like this, especially after she practically promised him she'd scream for him. Well, that she MIGHT scream for him.

As Minion lumbered along the passage and checked all the usual places, he continued to brainstorm possible reasons for his ward's odd behavior that day, but kept coming up empty handed; nothing really seemed to fit. After he'd thought about it, he realized that the working too hard idea was a flop; although that might explain his lack of activity after Miss Ritchi left, it certainly didn't square with him whisking her away on their weekend off to sit through that brand new plan that he'd just dreamed up on the fly. Besides, this was Megamind. He didn't even believe there was such a thing as working too hard; that couldn't possibly be it.

After checking various storage spaces, labs, and work rooms, all with no luck, the spacefish was running out of places to look, and out of ideas to explain his boss' antics. Beginning to feel frustrated and more concerned than ever, he finally decided to check the only two places he hadn't yet looked, and all because they seemed the least likely places to find him; his bed, and the dining room.

It would be worrisome indeed to find the busy villain in bed at eleven o'clock at night, and a sure sign that something was very wrong. Being the criminal mastermind that he was, Megamind's intellectual machinations were constantly running in overdrive, and that, combined with his extreme tendency toward hyper-activity left him needing far less sleep than most people, including Minion. It was common for the spacefish to hit a wall in the wee hours of the morning as he struggled to keep pace with his boss, and literally fall asleep on his robotic feet while his friend fervently labored on with the creation of his latest wicked schemes.

And the dining room; the blue genius had never been overly fond of the extravagantly appointed room that Minion loved so much. Although he had reluctantly gone along with his sidekick's ideas about decorating the place, he had routinely grumbled about it being far too similar to something that might be found in one of his goody-goody opponent's ridiculously opulent homes and hideouts. The only times he could willingly be found within the walls of the elegant room were Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then only for the sake of humoring his sentimental sidekick.

As he trudged along toward the scene of the onslaught that had almost ruined their entire holiday, Minion decided that if his friend wasn't in one of those two unlikely places, he'd have to assume that he'd changed his mind yet again, and was currently on his way to pick up Miss Ritchi and continue on with his plan after all. If that's the case, Minion thought with more than a little frustration as he pondered the idea, he can just count me out this time. Ugghhh, this whole mess has been SO confusing… I'm done! I'm going to bed!

Reaching the door to the dining room, Minion stopped just outside and took a deep, steadying breath, dreading to walk in and see the horrific aftermath of the Thanksgiving battle that certainly must still be spread across the room. Despite his boss' promise that the brainbots would take care of it, the flighty cyborgs had the attention span of a four year old, and it didn't take much to distract them and pull them away from any task they'd been given, especially if it involved something boring and tedious, like cleaning.

But when the spacefish stepped through the doorway and pulled aside the swag of the curtain that immediately obstructed his view, he was astonished to see an industrious stream of brainbots buzzing back and forth from one corner to another, focusing intently on completing the last remaining details of clean-up in an almost spotless room. And what seemed nearly as surprising to the fish as seeing the brainbots laboring so diligently at their chore was the sight of Megamind, sitting at the table with Number 121 perched contentedly on his lap as he scrubbed meticulously away at the bot's spindly arms and filthy dome.

"Sir, what are you doing? I've been looking all over for you! I thought you'd be in the control room planning for Monday morning…"

Megamind looked up from his task, and exuberantly responded with an evil chuckle thrown in for emphasis, "Oh, we have all weekend to take care of that, Minion. Not to worry… I have it all under control. I already have a few wickedly frightening ideas to pick from that are sure to scare the pencil skirt right off our lovely Miss Ritchi!"

The instant those words left his mouth, Megamind realized how awkwardly loaded that particular expression sounded; especially in light of the slightly romantic undertones some of his interactions with his captive had been laced with that day. Hoping his fishy sidekick hadn't noticed, he cleared his throat loudly and immediately pushed on ahead to change the subject.

"But since we have plenty of time to get to work on that, I wanted to take a moment to clean up our little friend here!"

Minion's lip curled as his eyes dropped to the smug and grubby little cyborg that sat nestled in its master's lap. He was still furious with the horribly behaved bot; in his opinion, Number 121 had been largely responsible for the bad behavior its brothers had fallen into that day, and the spacefish would have liked nothing better than to see the horribly naughty creature spend the next week sitting inactive in storage; just as all the bots had been promised as a consequence for continuing their bad behavior. But seeing Megamind lavish the mechanized instigator with so much individual attention while the others worked away at cleaning up the mess he knew deep down that 121 had helped initiate was just too much.

Barely managing to keep the irritation out of his voice, the fish ventured to ask, "Sir, don't you think our "little friend" should be over there helping the rest of the bots clean? After all, it did play a pretty big role in making that mess…"

"Oh no, I couldn't do that! Look at it… it's filthy! Much more dirty than the other brainbots! And besides, this little fellow has shown itself to be completely and unwaveringly loyal. I gave it an important task, and it stuck to it throughout that entire ordeal without becoming distracted…" and then the villain turned back to his mechanical pet, and cooed affectionately, "Isn't that right? You listened to daddy like a good little bot! Yes, you did!"

As Megamind prattled on, producing a dramatic eye-roll from his best friend, the happy cyborg became more and more excited by the attention it was receiving from its creator. Despite all of the impressive qualities that seemed to set Number 121 apart from its counterparts, it was still a brainbot, and therefore subject to many of the same faults and weaknesses as its brothers; especially biting.

Completely forgetting itself in the joy of the moment, the giddy bot suddenly opened its steely jaws and clamped them back together with a snap, narrowly missing the surprised villain's fingertips by a hair's breadth.

"There! You see, Sir? It's a terrible little turd and it needs to go into mothballs… right now!"

"Min-ion! Don't call it that!" Megamind barked back as he focused an offended glare on the fish and encircled the cyborg with his arms defensively. "All it needs is a little more training to work out all those minor kinks in its programming."

Then looking down at the creature as it hunkered guiltily in his lap, he shook his finger at it and said in a scolding tone, "Ah, ah, ah… no biting! No, no!"

Minion huffed in exasperation at Megamind's sudden protectiveness over the annoying little bot. It was obvious that the villain had decided to set his sights on the cyborg as a favorite even though it seemed crystal clear to him that preferential treatment like that would do nothing more than spoil the badly behaved creature. But once his boss' mind was made up, it was nearly impossible to convince him to see things differently. All the fish could hope for at this point was that his friend hadn't become so attached to the cyborg, he would decide to reinforce its bad behavior by bestowing it with a name… the highest honor any brainbot could receive from its creator.

As the piscean sat and stewed, glowering at the bot that gazed complacently back at him with a decidedly self-satisfied expression in its red eye, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when his boss pronounced thoughtfully, "You know, Minion; I think it's going to take a little more elbow grease to get this fellow cleaned up than I anticipated. Look at the way these potatoes have worked their way into the gears and joints here… I think I'm going to have to detach its arms completely to make sure the job gets done right."

"Well, why don't we just take it into the lab and shut it down for a while so we can give it a good scrubbing?" Minion interjected, seeing a possible back door to getting the naughty bot taken out of commission for at least a little while.

"No, I'm not shutting it down, Minion! Like I said, this one deserves my thanks… Ozzy will do just fine bobbing around here without its arms for a little while…"

Minion cringed. Oh no, did I just hear what I thought I heard?

"Um… Ozzy, Sir?"

"Yes… that's what I've decided to call it. It is a perfect name for it after all; not only would our new favorite be named after the greatest rock legend of all time, but the name fits it like a charm, what with its penchant for biting and all. The real Ozzy was famous for doing just that same thing! There couldn't possibly be a namesake with a more diabolically wicked reputation for our friend here! Well, what do you think, little guy? How do you like your new name?"

As the spacefish shook his body in annoyance and groaned in the background, the overjoyed brainbot turned an excited eye at its master and bowged its happy acceptance of the new name that it had been hoping and longing to receive. And not just any name, but THE name… the one it had dreamed of countless times before. No brainbot could ever be happier.

"And while I'm at it," Megamind continued without seeming to notice his sidekick's peevish reaction, "there are a few modifications to its body-type that I'm considering. I noticed earlier today when Roxanne was trying to pet it, these damn spikes kept getting in the way. It really doesn't need them anymore. I intend on keeping this one quite close from here on out; with the proper planning and under the right conditions, it could drastically enhance my evil image to have a brainbot constantly hovering close at hand… but, I can see how these spikes could cause a problem. So! I've decided to give Ozzy a facelift of sorts. That's right, no more spikes for you, my menacing little cyborg!"

As Minion watched the evil genius reclining in the plush, high backed chair, methodically stroking the dome of his mechanical pet as anyone else would stroke a cat with a scheming smirk beginning to tug at his lips as he considered the possibilities of somehow enhancing his "evil image", he was suddenly struck with a flashback of Blofeld from an old James Bond film. When he realized exactly what his boss had in mind, the irritated expression that had been evident on the fish's face shifted into a grimace that practically screamed "you've GOT to be kidding me" as he peered at the overly imaginative villain through his scaly brows, and his toothy jaw hung slack with disbelief.

Finding himself completely at a loss for words at this new development in his friend's plot for intimidation of the masses and city-wide domination, all the flabbergasted fish managed to say was, "Ooo-kaaaaaaaaay…"

He sat silently for a moment, the dumbfounded expression frozen on his face as he observed Megamind quietly mulling through his own private thoughts. He could practically see for himself the visions that must certainly be tumbling through the villain's mind; visions that included images of himself striking fear into the hearts of the populace with his odd little pet in its new, streamlined body-type perched intimidatingly in his lap, adding a little oomph to his evil image. What Minion couldn't see however, was the fact that his boss was also imagining the delightful possibility of Miss Ritchi holding Ozzy again someday, just as she had done earlier, but without the inconvenience of those "damn spikes" getting in her way as she stroked its dome affectionately.

Finally, with an irritated sigh, Minion decided to change the subject. It was obvious that Ozzy was going to be a permanent fixture in the control room from that moment on, always getting in the way and annoying the spacefish beyond belief; and there was nothing he could say that would change his best friend's mind. As painfully frustrating as it was to imagine it, he might as well get used to it.

Clearing his throat, the aquatic creature asked, "So, uh… wow. That was quite a day, wasn't it, Sir?"

Roused from his happy contemplations, Megamind glanced up at his sidekick and responded, "Oh yes, it was; quite a day! In fact, it turned out to be one of the most surprising days I think I've ever had."

"Pffft! Surprising doesn't even begin to cover it! But, thank goodness it's all over now, right?" Minion continued with a laugh as he thought back to the all the confusion that had ruled the roost at Evil Lair over the past twelve hours.

At his sidekick's admission of relief that the day they'd spent with their victim had finally drawn to an end, Megamind's congenial smile suddenly sank into a scowl. Oddly enough, he didn't like the idea of listening to his sidekick complaining about her presence there with them there that day; not one little bit.

"What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

Minion shrugged. "Well, I don't know; it's just good to get things back to normal around here I guess. I mean, it was really wonderful having Miss Ritchi here to join us like that; and actually, I wouldn't even mind doing it again another time," he added in quickly, hoping to sneakily plant the idea in the back of his boss' mind, "But man! Talk about confusing! And all the arguing, and the mess… you know, I think we were all a little out our heads with her spending the day here with us like that; even the brainbots! I've got to admit, there's just something about her…"

As Minion went on, Megamind's deeply drawn scowl began to brighten to a dreamy grin as his bright green eyes looked past him; off into the distance.

"You know, you're right, Minion. There is something about her; she's quite the little temptress to send every last inhabitant of Evil Lair out of their minds the way she did today. She really is amazing…"

Suddenly, he began to notice the distinct feeling of being watched; studied, like an amoeba under a microscope. Bringing his dreamy eyes back into focus, he was met by the sight of his best friend staring at him, the fish's brown eyes wide in astonishment at what sounded incriminatingly like an admission of much deeper feelings for the pretty reporter than he'd ever let on to before.

Suddenly feeling incredibly exposed and trying to cover his tracks, the villain instantly continued on to say in a flustered tone, "Um, amazing-ly… infuriating! And annoying! And nosy! Much more trouble than she's worth; that's what I was going to say before you distracted me with that weird, suspicious look on your face! So, knock it off! What's up with that, anyway?"

"Oh; sorry, Sir." answered the sheepish fish, instantly wiping away the surprised expression and replacing it with one of humility.

"Yes, well good. You should be! Alright, now listen carefully Minion, this is important. I've been thinking; we might just have a good thing going on here. Roxanne admitted that she found our little holiday jaunt surprising; she actually told me I knocked her socks off! You know what that means, don't you? She thought I was UN-predictable! We can't let a golden opportunity like this slip away! She's unwittingly given us something to work with here; we can use her confession to our advantage and really blow her mind the next time around! Now, as you know, Christmas is coming up soon, and that would be the perfect chance to…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute." The fish skeptically interjected, his index finger raised thoughtfully. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the whole point of being unpredictable is to shake it up, right? To keep her on her toes? Never do the same thing twice?"

Megamind looked at his scaly friend with a patient, compassionate expression. The sweet, sheltered little fish must have absolutely no idea how things worked out there in the real world. Reaching out to pat his henchman's mechanical arm compassionately, he offered in a gentle tone, "Oh Minion, you poor, naïve little guppy, that's whole the beauty of this plan! Don't you see? She'd be expecting me to give her the next holiday off after our escapade today; if I swoop in to snatch her again, she'd never see it coming!"

Minion blinked, a slightly puzzled look in his eyes as he silently watched his boss contemplate the idea of an impending Christmas abduction for Miss Ritchi. There were times that Megamind's logic didn't quite seem to square with what the robo-fish considered to be simple things, like rationality and common sense.

But, he was a genius after all, and the loyal little sidekick knew that even if his boss' plans didn't make any sense to him at all; even if they seemed completely crazy, there must be a nugget of hidden wisdom in them, somewhere down deep. He believed that in the end, despite all the trials and errors his best friend's often nutty ideas brought them through every day, they would eventually lead him to the destiny he'd been promised long ago. What that might be Minion couldn't venture to guess, but knowing Megamind, it would be something truly amazing, and the faithful little fish was overjoyed to know that he would be right there to see it happen.

With that in mind, Minion decided once again to trustingly roll along with his boss' super-secret plan despite his lingering confusion. Shrugging his furry shoulders, he responded, "Okay Sir, if you say so. Now then, what were you thinking as far as the mechanics of the plan; do you have anything in mind yet? Oh hey, I have a good idea! How about a really big robot; we haven't used one of those in a good long time! I'll bet that would surprise her! And we could even give it a Christmas theme!"

"Oh Minion, I don't have a clue what we're going to do! I don't even know for sure what we'll be doing on Monday yet; how do you expect me to know what we'll be doing a month from now? Don't get so far ahead of yourself!" he responded with a huff at his sidekick's eagerness. The silly fish seemed to be entirely missing the point.

"But what I was thinking is that I could swoop in to snatch her around… oh, say, one-ish. No, better make it closer to noon, before she has a chance to leave for Goody Two Shoes' place; because we already know she'll be planning to spend the day with him." he added, finishing off his comment with a sneer.

"Ah! Good idea, Sir."

"Of course it is! And now Minion, since we're talking about Christmas anyway, I think it's high time we start discussing our Christmas dinner… tell me, what do you have planned for us that day?"

Minion was rather surprised at the sudden interest Megamind seemed to be taking in their upcoming holiday feast. He'd never cared enough to ask about such trivial things before.

"Uh… well, actually Sir, I haven't even thought about it. I mean, we just finished Thanksgiving; isn't it a little early to plan for Christmas yet?"

"Of course not, you silly simian! It's never too early to plan for something that important!"

Minion was becoming confused again. "But wait, I thought you just said not to get too far ahead of myself…"

"I did, and I meant it! But this is entirely different, Minion. We're talking about the holiday feast! Obviously you'll want to plan well in advance for something of this magnitude. Now, I think you should do something very similar to what we had today; turkey, potatoes, the whole shebang! You know, since this time we really didn't have a chance to enjoy it."

"Point taken. Alright then, turkey it is!"

"Perfect!" the villain exclaimed gleefully as he tented his long fingers in front of his chin.

After a moment however, Megamind's eager grin began to shift to a more thoughtful expression, and in a tone filled with hope, he added, "Oh, and Minion, be sure to make pumpkin pie again. I think Miss Ritchi really enjoyed that today... don't you?"

Suddenly, everything snapped into place in Minion's mind… now he was beginning to comprehend the method behind this particular bit of his boss' madness. This wasn't really about the impending plan, it was all about her.

As a smile of complete understanding spread across the fish's face, he responded in a knowing tone, "You know, I believe she did, Sir; and I think she'll be pretty happy to see them at Christmas, too. I'll even make extra whipped cream, just for her!"

"Ah, splendid! Minion, you really are a fantastic fish!"

"Yes Sir, I know." answered the happy sidekick with a nod, a pleased grin spreading across his scaly lips. But as he sat back to contentedly bask in his friend's glowing compliment, his eyes happened to drop down once again to the irritating bot that watched him complacently from the comfort of its daddy's lap. The bright mood that he had been in mere seconds before took an instant nose dive at the sight of the smug, red eye peering back at him, and the spacefish couldn't stop himself from adding, his voice thick with annoyance as an image of the dining room plastered with food suddenly flashed through his mind, "But Sir; this time, let's make sure there are no brainbots, at all, in the dining room… you know, just to be on the safe side."

Thank you again, every last one of you, for following An Unpredictable Thanksgiving. My gratitude goes out to everyone who has been so patient and so kind to come back again and again to see how this adventure turns out, and especially those of you who took the time to review. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you had some fun along the way. :)

Just a quick note and happy note... because I received so many requests for a sequel, I've written a Christmas continuation to this story. It's called A Gift For Miss Ritchi, and the first chapters are published and ready to read... we can't just leave the secret and reluctant hopes of our favorite pair hanging like this, can we? Besides, a misadventure of this magnitude must go on! ;)